


College Memoirs

by coplins



Series: Packrunners [52]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: College, F/M, Friendship, M/M, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Sam Winchester, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21565762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coplins/pseuds/coplins
Summary: Sam is nervous about going to college. Life changes pretty drastically once he does, and in addition to focusing on his studies, he has to adjust to living with a bunch of complete strangers, figuring out where he stands when it comes to sex, love, alcohol, drugs, and Packrunners from other packs.  Gods forbid his older brother finds out all he gets up to.
Relationships: Sam Winchester/Everyone, Sam Winchester/Others
Series: Packrunners [52]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/896610
Comments: 15
Kudos: 50





	College Memoirs

**Author's Note:**

> **More tags to be added as chapters are added!**  
>  I don't know everything that's going to happen in this apart from a few basic plotlines that let us follow Sam as he comes into his own. We might see the Williams pack visit, but here the story I want to tell is what happens when Sam's pack _isn't_ around. :) I'm currently working several WIPs so this will be updated sporadically in the order I'm most inspired to write. ^^ I blame Crowgrrl for the existence of this side story. ;)
> 
> And as usual, a huge thank you to my betas, Lisa and Melina. <3<3<3 You are awesome and make such a great differece to me!

* * *

The young woman comes running towards them from upstairs. “I’m sorry, gentlemen, you must be lost. This is the Omega House.” When Luci flares and smiles at her, she almost misses a step. Sam can’t help but smile at his show-off of a mate.

“We’re not lost, miss,” Raff says. “We’re here to drop off our mate. I’m certain that’s allowed.”

“Oh. Oh, sure. I can show you her room. Who is your mate?” she says, all smiles now, coming to a stop in front of Luci as if it was him who spoke.

“Sam Winchester,” Luci says and gestures for Sam to come forward. 

Sam’s nervous. He's been on the verge of telling everyone he changed his mind and wants to live at home. But, that would feel like he was declaring defeat before he’d even tried. Besides, he heard his mates discussing a big expansion that will render them ten times busier than they already are in the upcoming months, or even _years_. Personally, he doesn't get why Dean would greenlight something like that when the pack is still in the process of finding a smooth-sailing dynamic, but he doesn't put his nose in Dean's business.

He steps forward to stand beside Luci. The girl turns her head to stare him right in the chest. Her eyes travel upward growing bigger and bigger until she meets his gaze. Sam gives her a lopsided smirk. "Hi. I'm Sam," he says and winks.

She gapes. Sam can hear his mates snigger. "Uh. Hi. I'm Rosa Stone. I, uh." She turns around and yells at the stairs. "JESS! CHANGE OF PLANS! YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO BUNK WITH SAM WINCHESTER! PENELOPE HAS TO TAKE SAM'S ROOM!"

"WHAT?!" Jess (presumably) yells back. "NO WAY! PENELOPE IS ALMOST AS TALL AS I AM, AND―" a blond woman rounds a corner and becomes visible upstairs, falling silent when she sees Rosa gesturing frantically at Sam. "Oh. _Ooh._ Yeah, I get your point." She smiles brightly, coming down the stairs, her gaze on Sam instead of the red-eyed Alpha beside him. She's tall for a female, but beautifully curvy, and she smells gorgeous. Her smell is also familiar somehow, but Sam's certain he'd remember if he'd met her before. Maybe she's just related to someone he's met? It happens. "Hi," she says. "I'm Jessica Rainsborough Moore. My friends call me Jess. We'll be sharing a room." She tilts her neck and offers her hand.

Sam takes her hand and leans in to scent her, then offers his own neck. When Jessica lets go of him, she instantly rubs her hand on the back of her neck to get his scent on her. Endeared, he does the same. "I'm Sam Winchester. Is there a problem with my room?”

“Oh, no. Not at all. We thought you were a girl-sized girl, so we assigned you the cubby on the ground floor. All newbies get smaller rooms. But me and Penelope share― correction, we were going to share a larger room because we’re both tall. Can’t expect someone to have to fold themselves into a ball to fit in their room. But you’re―” Jess makes a sweeping gesture from Sam’s head to his toes, “―so Penelope will simply have to squeeze into the cubby.” She grins. “You’re mated already. How cool is that? Is one of these guys your mate?” she asks, and briefly eyes Sam’s company without really paying attention to them.

Sam’s lip curls up in lopsided bemusement. “Yeah. All of them.”

Jess’ eyes bug. “ _All of―_! Oh, you’re a Packrunner! Wow. I have so many questions. That’s so neat. We’re gonna have so much to talk about,” she enthuses. 

“Rainsborough…” Mike says thoughtfully. “Sam, isn’t one of your professors named Rainsborough?”

“Ooh! You’re taking the religion classes? That’s my dad. He shares his classes with Professor Dietrich. They’ve divided them, so Dietrich deals with the make-believe religions during the first half of the course,” Jess chirps.

“Oh, make-believe, you mean like ‘the One’?” Sam says flatly.

Jess covers her mouth, realizing her slip and appearing apologetic. “Oh my god. I’m sorry. You don’t believe in the One?”

“Sure I do. But he isn’t part of my pantheon.”

“Crap. I’m sorry. To be honest, I sometimes doubt there are any gods at all. But don’t tell dad, okay? I―” Jess cuts off when she notices Rosa staring at Luci, and turns her head to finally discover him. She sucks in a breath. “Oh my god, it’s him! It’s you! From the wall of fame! Holy hell, can I get a selfie with you?” she asks excitedly already fishing her phone out of her pocket. She turns quickly towards Rosa to say, “I told you they weren’t photoshopped. You owe me fifty bucks,” before stepping up to Luci and turning her back to him while holding her phone up for a selfie. Luci drops full fangs and drapes an arm around her to smirk at the camera, flaring more intensely.

Sam snickers bemusedly. He’s gotten used to the stir Luci can create when he flares. He also kinda likes it. A lot. He thinks people are a bit stupid for thinking Luci, in particular, is something special when all four of his mates are equally amazing in their own right. But he gets it. He reacted much the same to those red eyes after all. 

Mike rolls his eyes. “Don’t tell me he’s still up there,” he complains.

“You’re just jealous you never made it there yourself, Mikey,” Luci teases and straightens up while Jess gleefully inspects the pictures she took.

“The wall of fame?” Sam asks.

Jess pockets her phone, grabs Sam’s hand and starts pulling him along to the end of the big room. “Here,” she says and stops in front of a wall full of picture frames. Every frame holds both a headshot and a picture of the person running, climbing or jumping. Some of the pictures are very old. “This is the stuff dreams are made of, Sammy.” She makes a sweeping gesture at the wall. “The most Alpha-y Alphas of them all. The champions of the Omega Run. Sometimes they take down old pics to replace them with new champions, but there are a few that are untouchable. Your mate is one of them. Oh my god, I can’t believe you managed to bag yourself one of them. That’s so neat! Me and the girls had an argument whether or not the red eyes were photoshopped, but the photo’s too old for that..” 

Gabe comes skipping over. “Is our uncle still up?” he asks rhetorically. “Yup, there he is. Look, Samsquatch, here’s Uncle Aiden,” he points at an old picture. It hangs in a cluster with five others, the subjects all red-eyed Alphas, one of them female. Luci’s there too, but his and Aiden’s are the only true colour photos. The older pictures are black and white ones that were colour tinted by hand. 

Sam leans in to read the names. “They’re all your relatives. And the woman is also named Lucifer?”

The rest of his mates come to inspect. “Would you look at that,” Luci says. “That there is our great-grandfather, Jedikiah. And that’s Father’s aunt. But I don’t know who Jarvis Williams is.”

“Wait, Williams. Oh, my god, you’re the Long Island Williams pack! Sam, you said your name is Winchester!” Jess says and hits Sam playfully on the upper arm. He likes her. She reminds him of Dean in a way. Just skipping over from complete strangers to best friends in one go, bypassing the awkward phase. 

“It is.”

“But you’re mated? And you haven’t changed your last name? Wow. Packrunners are strange. I have so many questions. Come on, I’ll show you our room. I’d offer to help you with your bags, but with four strong mates, you can let them do it.”

Sam huffs in amusement. “It’s okay. I can carry them myself.”

“Phah!” Gabe protests and goes to pick up one of the bags. Luci hurries to snatch the other one before Gabe can, then grabs Gabe and hoists him up under an arm, bag and all. Sam and Jess laugh.

“Lead the way, fair lady,” Luci smirks.

* * *

Jess shows Sam his side of the room and leaves them so they can say goodbye in peace.

“She’s intense,” Raff states.

"I kinda like her," Sam says and sits down gingerly on the bed.

"Yes, and she’ll probably calm down once everyone’s arrived and settled in," Mike says. “Everyone’s keyed up when the new arrivals come.”

"Do you have a wall of fame for Omegas in the Alpha house too?" Sam asks.

"Nope," Gabe says and unwraps a lollipop, spreading the scent of artificial orange in the room. "I wish we did, but since most Os want to be caught, they don't run like the Alphas."

"They did back in the day, but that might have been during Jedikiah’s time or maybe even further back," Luci says and flops himself down beside Sam, bouncing a few times to check the sturdiness of the bed. "This is actually the first time I've seen the wall of fame myself. I didn't come here often and, when I did, I went straight to someone's room. The Omega house rarely throws open parties like the Alpha and Beta houses."

"Speaking of," Mike says. "I brought this, since you forgot to pack it," he says and puts the fake knot penis ring with its remote on Sam's desk.

"I didn't forget it. I just don’t think I’ll have any reason to use it while I’m here.”

His mates share a look then burst out laughing. Luci throws an arm over Sam’s shoulders. “Sam, Sam, Sam,” he tuts and shakes his head. “Everybody knows college is all about sex.”

“I’m pretty sure that's not the case,” Sam states dryly. "I'm here to study."

"And I'm sure you will. I did too. Having Os sit on my knot didn't slow me down one bit. But if you haven’t plowed half of the Omega house by the next time I drop in for a visit, I’m going to be disappointed in you,” Luci admonishes.

“And been plowed by half the Alpha house,” Gabe adds with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Luci frowns and aims a kick at Gabe’s shin. “Don’t encourage him.”

Sam chuckles as Gabe dances out of reach.

Mike crouches down in front of him, resting his crossed arms over Sam’s knees. “Sammy, if you don’t want to sleep around, then don’t. We just want you to know that we’re okay with you fooling around with others.”

“Even with Alphas,” Luci grumps, picking at some imaginary lint on his pants rather than meeting Sam’s gaze. Luci is all bluster amongst others, but he and Sam have had many long, open conversations at night, arms wrapped tightly around each other and the room pitch black. By now, Luci’s jealousy concerning Sam is next to non-existent and, mostly, played for show. It had taken all summer to get to that point. Surprisingly, hooking up with outpack strangers together had been helpful. It’s also helpful that Sam gets extremely smug anytime someone fawns over Luci, proud of the attention his mate attracts. Luci has deep-rooted abandonment issues. Some of which are unfounded―Chuck and Aiden didn’t really abandon him as such―and some that are; Amara left as soon as Gabe didn’t need to be breastfed, and Michael would have left if Kate had chosen to take him with her. But there’s more to it than that. Repeated rejection by Omegas he looked up to and wanted while everyone else treated him like a gift from the gods, reinforced his lack of self-worth and made him so fearful of being cast aside and left behind. There are probably other reasons for Luci’s insecurity that Sam just hasn't figured out yet, but the two of them have worked through enough to overcome the jealousy.

"Yeah, okay. I doubt I will. But thanks."

Once Sam's said his goodbyes and unpacked, he's feeling restless and nervous. He can hear girls chattering and giggling in the house, the voices getting louder as more and more Omegas arrive. He runs a hand through his hair and debates what to do. Jess will come back sooner or later, and, maybe, call him out on hiding in the room. He doesn't want that, but he doesn't want to face his new "pack" just yet either.

After deliberating, he goes to sit by his desk and opens his laptop. He opens Skype and makes a call. He doesn't think anyone will answer, but, to his surprise, the image of his old room appears with Adam smiling at the webcam. "Hey, Sam. How's it going?"

Sam chirps happily. "Adam! I didn't expect you to be back from the hunting trip already," he says.

"Mh. John cut it short. He got tired of cursing Dean's name," Adam says.

"Why would he do that?" Sam frowns bemusedly. A hunting trip being cut short is nothing out of the ordinary. No point in hunting more than you can store at home. But John cursing about Dean is an anomaly.

Adam smirks. "Because I kept complaining about the lack of WiFi, which, according to John, is all Dean’s fault."

Sam laughs. "So cutting it short had nothing to do with y’all being successful in your hunting?" he asks dryly.

"That too, probably," Adam admits with a smirk. "But he has been cursing about Dean and 'the damned interweb' a lot."

"Why?"

"Basically because he hasn't taken the time to understand it. Meanwhile, I've been using the internet to advertise the garage and set up a webpage. We started getting more customers, and with my part of the money I bought an ad on the billboard by the interstate outside of town. We're seeing so much business, we've had to hire new people." Adam looks smug.

"That's, that's great!"

"Yeah. But John isn't thrilled. He doesn't like to have strangers working in the garage, so he's actively searching for new pack members that are trained mechanics with combat training."

Sam grins. The thought of the Winchester pack growing makes him happy. He never understood why his dad was so infernally picky. Sam’s enjoying living in a bigger pack. "Maybe you could put up an ad for new pack members on some forum on the internet?"

Adam's upper lip pulls up in skepticism. "That's not how you recruit to a pack."

"Why not? So get this. We've always recruited traditionally. Most packs do, right? But if we move with the times, we stand a bigger chance of getting the perfect match for us. Write a description of the pack, our history, our views, what you’re looking for and so on. The people who find that interesting will have to travel to you, and, once they get there, you can figure out if they’re a good fit for the pack the normal way. As an added bonus, anyone responding will most likely know how to read and write."

Adam purses his lips in thought for a beat. "Hm. Why not? I'll do it." He sniggers. "John's gonna be so confused if it works and people start coming."

"You're not telling him?"

"If I ask, he'll say no."

Sam grins. "He's very traditional," he agrees.

Adam nods. He gestures behind Sam. "You a proper college boy now?"

"Yeah. Orientation is tomorrow. My mates just left, and I don't really feel like going out to meet everyone just yet."

"You got the room to yourself?"

"No. I have a roommate. Her name is Jessica and―"

As if conjured by her name Jess comes sweeping into the room. " _Phew_. You're smart, staying in here. Everyone is really nice, but the more people trying to have a conversation at once the dumber it gets." She goes to rummage in her wardrobe. "Rachel said she refuses to wear anything aside from Lexiana clothes. Have you heard anything that dumb? Then she accused Mio of wearing knock-offs just because her clothes don’t have the brand logo printed all over them. Bet she's gonna have a fit when she sees your plaid shirt. Hah! She wouldn't know an Armani if it bit her in the ass. Don't tell dad I said ass. Angelica is a real sweetheart. It blows my mind that such a shy, sweet girl can be named after the worst, most dangerous warriors God's ever created. Oh, there it is." She pulls out a tiny spaghetti strap top. "Don't look, I'm going to change. I've been sweating like a pig. It's so damned hot in the downstairs common rooms." She pulls off her T-shirt and drops it on the floor, still with her back to Sam.

Sam's staring bemusedly, ignoring the request for privacy. "Uh… Jess?"

"Jonna Poole is a Packrunner too. And so is Wren Talon. But they're not mated. I can't believe you have four mates!" Jess goes on, pulling on the top. It's a crop top. Sam wonders why she told him not to look when the top barely covers her bra. "I didn't even know you could have four mates. _Four_. It's insane."

"My big brother has five," Sam volunteers.

" _Five??_ How does that even work? Is he hot? Is he an Alpha?"

"No, he's an O."

"She's cute," Adam states. He's supporting his cheek in his palm, elbow on his desk, smirking at the screen, looking beyond Sam.

Jess turns around when she hears the second voice. She spots Adam. "Oh! You're busy! I'm sorry, didn't mean to disturb," she says, looking contrite.

“No, it’s okay,” Sam hastens to assure. “Jess, come meet my little brother, Adam. Adam, this is Jess.” He gestures between Jessica and the laptop.

Jess perks up, being invited into the conversation. She comes over and smiles at the laptop. "Hi. Nice to meet you. Are you a gaio too?" she says and sits down on Sam's lap without so much as a word of warning. Sam blinks in surprise then frowns at the unknown expression she’d used.

Adam obviously knows what it means. He flares apple-green and teeths his canines. “No ma’am. I’m a single Alpha, with a generously sized knot, at your service,” he says and starts deep-purring.

Sam’s brain misfires. He knows his little brother has presented, but they haven’t met since then so, to Sam’s mind, Adam’s still a Juvie, which makes the deep-purring hellishly awkward. That gaio means male Omega (guy-O) is shoved into the back of his mind while he tries to react to all that’s happening. Jess covers her mouth and giggles. “Oh my god. Do you really have a big knot? Or are you just saying that because you’re too far away to prove it?” Jess asks.

“Ma’am, there’s a perfectly good camera right here,” Adam answers and gestures at the screen. “I can prove my size, just say the word.” His smirk gets wider, eyes narrowing cattily. 

Sam sputters. “ _Gods!_ Jess, that’s my _little brother_. He’s not gonna pop a knot in front of the camera! Adam, you’re _not_ gonna pop a knot in front of the camera!”

Jess giggles again, and Adam laughs. “What’s the matter, Sammy? You afraid your dreadful mate will get his ego bruised when I prove I’ve got the bigger knot?” Adam teases.

“Dreadful?” Jess asks.

“Adam and Luci like to pretend they don’t like each other,” Sam answers dryly and gives Adam a reproachful look. “They’ve talked several times over skype.” Sam and Adam skyped often, and Sam didn’t mind his mates being present so Adam had talked to all of them. He and Michael got along splendidly. So splendidly, in fact, that Sam sometimes left the room to let them chat in peace. He thinks they sometimes skype each other without Sam as the middle man too. Gabe and Raff worked well with Adam, but, if Luci was in the room while Sam was skyping Adam, the two of them tended to exchange sarcastic remarks and backhanded compliments. 

Adam sniggers. “We’re not pretending. But I appreciate his humour, I’ll give you that.”

“Adam sent him a postcard that said ‘I’m sorry.’ And on the flip side he’d written ‘that I don’t like you’,” Sam tells Jess.

“You know what the asshat did?” Adam says with a snigger in his voice. He gets up to fetch something and comes back with an A4-sized greeting card. He holds the card up to the camera. It’s a picture of a sad kitten, with a message that originally said ‘ **I’m Sorry** ’ but had been modified with a black marker to say ‘ **I’m Sorr ~~y~~** -ier I don’t like you’. 

Jess laughs delightedly. Adam and Sam had both gotten a good laugh when Luci’s card arrived. Luci put Adam’s postcard on the whiteboard in his office, and Adam keeps Luci’s on the wall in his bedroom. They might claim not to like each other, but they’re full of shit.

“Oh, it gets better,” Adam says and opens the card so Jess can see what’s written inside. It says ‘(Mine’s bigger.)’

Jess lets out a scandalized laugh and covers her mouth again, leaning into Sam. Sam grins and puts his arm around Jess to stabilize her. She smells good and apparently has no concept of personal space. It’s kinda like sharing a room with Dean. Sam decides he likes having her in his lap. So what if it took him awhile to make up his mind about it? Adam had _deep-purred_. So what if a guy gets distracted? It’s awkward. But, apparently, here they are, discussing the size of Adam’s knot. It’s surreal. 

“I’m afraid that when it comes to knots, Lu is probably right,” Sam tells Adam.

“No way,” Adam refutes cockily.

“Perhaps not. Judge for yourself,” Sam says and grabs his phone from his desk. He opens the gallery and finds one of the dick pics Luci sent him, then shows Adam.

Adam, blank faced, stares at it for several seconds before suddenly leaning back with a discontent growl. “Fuck sake,” he complains.

“C-can I see?” Jess asks shyly.

“Of course.” Sam hands her the phone. Luci had suggested they take a nude photo of him with his knot popped and get a life size print done that Sam could hang it beside his bed at college, so Sam has no qualms about showing anyone. 

“No wonder he’s such a braggart,” Adam mutters, then he huffs. “Honestly, I don’t envy him. Lots of Os think my knot’s too big, Luci must have a fucking hell of a time. You have no problem taking him?”

Sam shakes his head. “Not really. I like it. But if he moves too much when we’re knotted, it can be a bit too much. Dean and Dick, though, they have a thing for it. They’re insane. They’ll tug on purpose, even with Luci knotted inside. You can smell how much it must hurt, but they still get cross-eyed with bliss.”

Adam chuckles, then huffs in annoyance. “Sammy, please don’t tell me stuff like that. I’m having enough dirty thoughts of Dean as it is. The bastard always sends handkerchiefs with his secretion on them whenever he sends gifts. It was great until I presented. It’s still great, but, _man_ , it’s awkward.”

“He does? I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, he does. Smelling them makes me want to jerk off, which I’m pretty sure isn’t his intention. I _haven’t_ ,” Adam points out, “but I think John has no such qualms. I overheard mom and him arguing, and what they said makes me think Dean and John’s relationship was a billion times more complicated than I realized as a Juvie. And, from what I heard, since Dean’s safely tucked away and mated now, John feels free to fantasize about him however he wants. Mom isn’t thrilled about it.” 

“Wow. That. That’s awkward.”

“Tell me about it.” Adam smirks and nods at the screen looking beside Sam. “I think you broke her.”

Sam turns his head to look at Jess who’s still holding Sam’s phone, staring at the image of Luci’s knot. Her jaw is slack, lips parted, her eyes are wide and her cheeks are crimson, blush spreading all the way down her chest. Sam had been too preoccupied to realise how Jess has started to smell of anxiety, excitement, and arousal. He chuckles and jostles her lightly. “Like what you see, Jess?”

Jessica’s head snaps up, cheeks growing even hotter. “S-sorry, I― Do a-all knots look like this?” she asks and swallows, throat so dry Sam can hear it.

“Yeah, except not so big. You’ve never seen a knot before?”

Jess shakes her head. “No. Never. I’ve seen dad’s penis a couple of times when I’ve walked in on him in the shower. By mistake, I mean. I, I, I know they’re big, penises, I mean, but... But I’ve never seen one erect, much less with a knot,” she flusters, clutching Sam’s phone hard enough for her palms to start sweating. 

“You’ve never even watched porn?” Sam asks in surprise. For Jess to be in college, she must be a rich girl. Her clothes and her dad’s occupation guarantee it. Rich people have internet and television. Sam can literally see Jessica’s own laptop sitting on her desk. She would have had full access to all of the internet's wonders since forever.

Jess shakes her head. “D-does it really feel good to be knotted?”

“Yes,” Adam and Sam answer in unison, then chuckle about answering at the same time.

Jess eyes go even bigger and she turns her head to look at Adam. “How do you know? You’re an Alpha.”

Adam leans back in his chair, hooking his arm over the backrest. “Ma’am, with all due respect, sex isn’t an Alpha-Omega exclusive activity.”

“It’s not?”

Two sides in Sam are currently at war with each other. One side is protective, wanting to shelter the innocent, “little girl” on his lap, make sure no one even looks at her the wrong way. The other part of him feels like the big bad wolf. He reminds himself this isn’t Azazel’s bar. This is the room that will be their home, and Jess deserves not to be hit on while on her private territory. “No, it’s not. Sex is something we do to bond, have fun, and to better our health. The only sex that’s strictly Alpha-Omega is for procreation,” he says.

“Most likely, if you run into Packrunners, you can safely assume we’re happily getting it on with any gender,” Adam adds.

“Yeah. Unless we have specific, personal preferences. Like my mate Raphael who can’t get it up for females at all. He’s only sexually attracted to guys. But he doesn’t care if they’re Alphas or Omegas.”

“Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking, how the hell have you missed out on this?” Adam asks.

Jess relaxes somewhat, though she’s still blushing hotly. She smiles and pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. “I spent most of my life in this suuuper Conservative town called Pine Glen, in Washington. Everyone there is incredibly strict, and they dress in clothes that cover almost everything. But then, there was this boy, Justin, who came to our school. He’s a super talented swimmer who wants to win the world championship someday. He has tattoos and piercings, and he wears tank tops and stuff. He was in my little brother’s class and they became friends. But in our town, his looks are forbidden, right? So the school forbade him to swim, and he was bullied by adults and other Juvies. My parents are the nicest ever, so, when they found out, they adopted him and we moved here. We live in the suburbs, and our neighbourhood is also exclusively Conservative, but one of dad’s old school mates lived there and helped us find the place fast. I haven’t really gotten to know anyone, aside from other Conservatives, since we moved here four years ago. Then, I presented just before summer and, since dad is a professor here, he pulled some strings so I could move into the Omega house early. And…” she looks at her lap. “I haven’t dared explore the city on my own,” she admits quietly. 

It’s a smart solution to move your Omega offspring out of the home like that. Sam would very much like to hear more about how, exactly, her parents adopted Justin. There's only one reason Sam can think of as to why someone like Justin would stick around in a town like that; he had parents already. Parents who were willing to pay for schooling and force him to suffer abuse. It’s hard to imagine they’d just let him go without a fight. Sam wonders if he’s just heard the tale of a Conservative couple sniping a kit and making a run for it. Adam speaks up before he gets a chance to ask.

“In that case, sweetheart, you’re gonna get your innocence shot to smithereens from what I’ve heard about college. And I doubt Sam’s mates are gonna hold back, when they come to visit.”

“Is that okay? We can check into a hotel or something if it makes you uncomfortable,” Sam offers.

“What? No! You don’t have to do that. It’s fine. If you’re okay with it, I’m okay with it. We moved from Pine Glen to get _away_ from stifling and strict interpretation of the scripture. It’s not― Okay, just because I’ve barely seen anything else doesn’t mean I don’t want to,” Jess offers with a bright smile. She realises she’s still holding Sam’s phone and hands it over, slightly flustered.

“Don’t worry, Jess. My big bro will take good care of you,” Adam leers jokingly.

“Shut up, asshat,” Sam chastises, making his little brother snigger.

“Oh, did I tell you? I’ve got a new job? Aside from helping in the garage, which I hate, by the way. I’m now a bona fide journalist. I write articles for the Daily News, as well as a weekly column on their web page. Best of all? _They_ contacted _me_ , not the other way around. They’d been impressed by, and I quote, the expressive and engaging way I wrote.”

“Wow. That’s great!” Sam enthuses and trills happily. 

“Yeah. I’d left a substantial number of comments on their articles, and my comments garnered about as much interaction as the original articles,” Adam says, purring smugly.

“You’ll send me the link to your column, right?” Sam asks. He decides to get a subscription for the Daily News as well.

Adam leans forward to tap on his computer. He’s a fast typist, far quicker than Sam despite having owned a computer for less time. Adam’s got a knack for figuring out how electronics work, just like Dean. Sam had to be taught. He still hasn’t figured out how to get his phone to write ‘fuck’. His pack seems to think it’s too funny to help him out. Yesterday he sent a text to Dean and, when he came home, Dean teased the living shit out of him about the ‘duck’. Marlon put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and, in a conciliatory tone, said, ‘It’s okay if your phone autocorrects fuck to duck....It’s still fowl language.’ Dean laughed until he was wheezing. Sam thinks both of them can go duck themselves.

Sam’s phone dings for an incoming email and Adam leans back in his chair again. They talk about Adam’s new job for several minutes before Jess suddenly reaches over Sam to pick something up from his desk.

“What’s this?” she asks, holding up the inflatable cock ring.

Sam opens his mouth to answer, sees Adam frowning curiously, and suddenly feels incredibly shy about it. “It’s, uh. My mate Michael gave it to me. It’s, it’s… Um, look. They told me many Conservative Os don’t want to be with an Alpha before they get mated, right? But they might still want to have sex. So, uh,” he flusters and reaches out to grab the cock ring from Jess. He takes her hand and threads it over three of her fingers, then, purposefully _not_ looking at Adam, he reaches for the remote and pushes the button to inflate the fake knot. His pulse is rushing and his cheeks feel hot. Jess stares uncomprehendingly at the ring gripping her fingers. “It’s, ah, it’s for my dick,” Sam clarifies.

“Oh. _Oooh_ ,” Jess says. “It never even occurred to me that you can have sex with another O without going against the scripture. I―” She goes silent and turns her head to look at Sam, her cheeks once again turning crimson and her scent colouring with anxiety, excitement, and a hint of arousal. “I, um…” she doesn’t seem to find words.

They stare at each other for several seconds.

Adam hides his mouth behind a hand and says “ _Awkwaaard_.”

It breaks the spell. Flustered, Jess giggles and Sam chuckles. He runs a hand through his hair and pushes the button to deflate the ring. Jess tries to get the ring off and put it back on the desk, it but she fumbles, drops it, catches it and nearly drops it again before she manages to put it where it was. She and Sam share a look and avert their eyes, giggling. “Oh my god,” Jess mutters.

“Aww. That’s cute,” Adam teases sarcastically.

“Shut it,” Sam tells him without much heat.

“Hey, Sam? You’re gonna have dad as your professor next semester…” Jess says hesitantly but smiling. 

“Yeah?”

“Please, don’t tell him. Like, _anything_.”

Sam and Adam laugh at how her eyes widen at the last word. “I’m not gonna talk about private matters with your dad, Jess,” Sam assures her.

Once they say goodbye to Adam, Jess gets off Sam’s lap to sit by her own desk, leaned back in her chair with her feet propped up on her desk. They keep talking for a long while, and get on really well. Sam’s excited and a bit nervous about the sexual tension that’s burst into life. Jess smells good and vaguely familiar. Though they don’t talk anymore about sex, Sam can’t help but wonder if he’ll get to use his cock ring with her. And, with how her eyes repeatedly wander from him to the ring on the desk, she’s asking herself the same question. Jess is as nervous as he is about starting college, and her response to being nervous is talking, throwing herself headlong into things. They go down to eat dinner together. It’s not as nerve wracking as meeting the rest of the Os alone would have been. Like Jess said, most of them are nice, and Sam loves being surrounded by so many pretty girls. He’s starting to feel like a fox in a henhouse. (Just as his mates predicted, several girls are quick to hint that they wouldn’t mind a little rough-and-tumble with him.) Sam walks around in the common area to mark it up. He gets a few odd looks, but when Jonna Poole and Wren Talon see what he’s doing, they come join him. Sam calls Jess over, asking her to help out. “It’s our home now. We need to show outsiders they’re stepping into our territory.” Soon all the girls are walking around marking the common areas. Sam heads for the entrance to mark it up thoroughly (What Dean would call a “Fuck off-marking”.), then he moves on to the porch to mark up the columns. Wren Talon joins him in the endeavour, but none of the other girls. Sam wonders why.

When Sam goes to bed that night, Jess is still downstairs talking to some of the girls. 

The room smells pleasantly of the two of them. He really likes Jess, and the general apprehension about being separated from his pack is starting to fade. While he waits to fall asleep, he tries to remember what makes Jessica's scent so familiar. It’s difficult, because a scent can remind you of another the same way a recording of a kit singing can bear traces of similarity to the rockstar that they grew up to become four decades later. The voice, looks, and skill-level are different, but tiny little quirks of similarity remain, clues so you can tell it’s the same person. Unfortunately, Sam hasn’t been able to solve this mystery yet. Maybe Jessica is related to someone Sam has met before. Not every family’s scent is as in-your-face distinctive as the Williamses and Winchesters. 

Maybe it’s a charming bar patron that he met once, or a particularly nice cashier he bought a snack from at some point. He knows that, whoever it was, the encounter must have been positive or he wouldn’t feel good about the reminder the way he does in Jessica’s presence. Sam gives up. He decides it doesn’t matter. It’s not like it’s going to affect his college experience in any way.

With that thought, sleep finally claims Sam...

* * *


End file.
